‘I have no tolerance for people who aren’t good at that spot.’ Meet UK’s new catcher.
Last season, Kayla Kowalik accepted a major challenge from University of Kentucky softball coach Rachel Lawson. The freshman from Texas was asked to play center field for the first time in her career.
“I just love softball, so moving positions wasn’t going to do anything negative to me,” Kowalik said at media day on Tuesday. “I had a wonderful year in the outfield, I really enjoyed it.”
Kowalik settled right in as a Wildcat, batting .357 and setting a program record among freshmen with a .452 on-base percentage. She reached base in 27 straight games, the longest streak for a UK player since 2011, and was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team. She’s one of six returning starters for the Wildcats, who are ranked No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. Kentucky opens the season Friday with a doubleheader against Liberty and Texas State at the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Lead-Off Classic in Clearwater, Florida. Over three days they’ll play five games, all of which can be viewed on the NFCA YouTube page.
Now, as a sophomore, Kowalik is switching back to her natural position and will occupy the role that Lawson calls the toughest on the team. Kowalik is replacing All-SEC catcher Jenny Schaper behind the plate.
“I’m so grateful that I got to learn from Jenny Schaper last year,” Kowalik said. “I think that’s what’s helped me the most. Not only did I get to play center field, I also got to learn from one of the best catchers I’ve seen.”
Those lessons will prove valuable as Kowalik works to remain in the good graces of her coach.
“Everyone who follows Kentucky softball knows that probably the hardest position to play in all the country is catcher at the University of Kentucky, I demand a lot of them,” Lawson said. “To me, the ultimate leadership position in baseball and softball is behind the dish. I have never seen a championship-caliber team that did not have a championship-caliber catcher ... They’re not allowed to have a bad day. They’re not allowed to drop the ball.
“It’s a tough position to play, and I have no tolerance for people who aren’t good at that spot.”
Lawson said Kowalik, who played catcher in high school, is well-suited to the position.
“Everybody is very comfortable with Kayla. She has got a big, big, big personality. So she’s somebody who loves the spotlight and she’s stubborn enough to be an outstanding catcher,” Lawson said. “You’ve got to have that grit.”
‘Our hardest out’
Kowalik will again be a key cog on offense. In Friday’s opener she’ll probably either bat lead-off or right behind Alex Martens, perhaps UK’s most dangerous returning hitter.
“Kowalik obviously is somebody who I would prefer at the top of the order but she very easily could move to a spot behind and protect Alex, because you have to have somebody unbelievable at that spot,” Lawson said. “Because if they’re going to walk her then we’re going to have to have somebody that can make them pay.”
Martens knows all about that crucial protection assignment. Last season she batted behind National Player of the Year Abbey Cheek and finished with a .310 average and team-best 66 RBI. She and Mallory Peyton tied for the second-most home runs with 13 each while Cheek belted 20.
Wherever she settles in the lineup, Lawson expects Kowalik to put up big numbers for the Cats.
“She is probably our hardest out right now. Her versatility is amazing. She’s just an outstanding athlete and you can tell it when she’s in the box,” Lawson said. “Her presence is unbelievable. Her ability to slow the game down and just be able to perform on the big stage is something that she’s very good at ... I think she’s gonna prove to be one of the people that makes the team tick.”
Kowalik’s versatility comes as no surprise. She was a three-sport standout in high school who learned to bat left-handed so she could become a slap-hitter, a rarity among catchers.
“When I was younger and started getting faster we decided I should try to switch from batting right to batting left,” Kowalik said. “I realized I wasn’t necessarily a power hitter so if I could get base hits on the left side it would help me ... It wasn’t that hard to learn, just a lot of practice and repetition.”
Kowalik had mixed feelings about leaving her other sports behind, but she knew well before college that softball was her future.
“Track, I can’t say that I miss. Running is not really something I enjoy even though I am pretty good at it,” she said. “But I do miss volleyball ... It was something I could do just because I enjoyed it. It was difficult to give up but I knew softball was where my heart was and I knew it would take me to a top school where I could do something big.”
The next step
Last season Kentucky went 36-24 overall and 14-10 in the SEC, finishing tied for second in the league. The Cats earned the No. 14 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted a regional for the fourth year in a row, winning three straight games to advance to the Seattle Super Regional where they fell to No. 3 Washington.
This season the Wildcats are gunning for a top-eight national seed, which would mean they’d host a regional and, assuming they advanced, a super regional.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing what we can to get a top-eight national seed,” Lawson said. “We’ve been a national seed a number of years but the thing that’s going to help us be a mainstay in the World Series is to become a top-eight national seed every single year.”
In pursuit of that goal, the Wildcats have a unique opportunity to size themselves up. On Saturday, they’ll face the U.S. National Team in an exhibition.
Kowalik is itching for that opportunity.
“That’s probably one of the games I’m looking forward to most,” she said. “I grew up watching a lot of those players play and I’ve seen a lot of them on TV. So getting to play them is going to be really awesome.”
The Wildcats will play 22 straight games on the road to begin the season. They open the home schedule March 7 against Texas A&M.
This weekend
NFCA Lead-Off Classic at Clearwater, Fla.
Friday
Noon: UK vs. Liberty
2:30 p.m.: UK vs. Texas State
Saturday
10 a.m.: UK vs. North Carolina State
5:30 p.m.: UK vs. U.S. National Team
Sunday
11 a.m.: Kentucky vs. Minnesota
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 5:18 PM.
